Editing Object Pascal (section)

{{Short description|Branch of object-oriented derivatives of Pascal programming language}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox programming language
| name = Object Pascal
| logo = 
| paradigms = [[Imperative programming|Imperative]], [[Structured programming|structured]], [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]], [[Functional programming|functional]] (Delphi dialect only), [[Component-based software engineering|component-based]], [[Event-driven programming|event-driven]], [[Generic programming|generic]]
| family = [[Niklaus Wirth|Wirth]] [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]]
| designers = [[Larry Tesler]] (Apple)<br/>[[Niklaus Wirth]] (for Apple)<br/>[[Anders Hejlsberg]] (Borland)<ref name="InfoworldTechTalk">{{cite magazine |last=Gibson |first=Steve |author-link=Steve Gibson (computer programmer) |date=May 8, 1989 |title=Borland and Microsoft Enter the Object-Oriented Pascal Ring |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |page=28 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RzoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT27 |volume=11 |issue=19 |access-date=September 18, 2021 |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229162502/https://books.google.com/books?id=RzoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT27#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>
| developers = Apple Computer (initial)<br/>Borland International<ref name="InfoworldTechTalk"/>
| released = {{Start date and age|1986}}
| latest release version = 
| latest release date = 
| typing = [[Type system|Static and dynamic]] (dynamic typing through variants, ''array of const'', and [[Run-time type information|RTTI]]), [[Type system#Strong and weak typing|strong]], [[Type system#Safely and unsafely typed systems|safe]]
| scope = [[Scope (computer science)|Lexical]] (static)
| programming language = 
| platform = [[ARM architecture family|ARM]], [[x86]], [[PowerPC]], [[ppc64]], [[SPARC]], [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]], [[Common Language Infrastructure|CLI]], [[Java (software platform)|Java]]
| operating system = 
| license = 
| file ext = <code>.p</code>, <code>.pp</code>, <code>.pas</code>
| file format = <!-- or: | file formats = -->
| website = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} -->
| implementations = [[Delphi (software)|Delphi]] ([[x86]], [[ARM architecture family|ARM]]), [[Free Pascal]] ([[x86]], [[PowerPC]], [[ppc64]], [[SPARC]], [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]], [[ARM architecture family|ARM]]), [[Oxygene (programming language)|Oxygene]] ([[Common Language Infrastructure|CLI]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]], Native [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]]), Smart Mobile Studio ([[JavaScript]])
| dialects = Apple, [[Turbo Pascal]], [[Free Pascal]] (using '''objfpc''' or '''delphi''' mode), [[Delphi (software)|Delphi]], Delphi.NET, Delphi Web Script, [[PascalABC.NET]], [[Oxygene (programming language)|Oxygene]] 
| influenced by = [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], [[Simula]], [[Smalltalk]]
| influenced = [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], Genie, [[Java (programming language)|Java]], [[Nim (programming language)|Nim]], [[C/AL]]
}}

'''Object Pascal''' is an extension to the programming language [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]] that provides [[object-oriented programming]] (OOP) features such as [[Class (computer programming)|classes]] and [[Method (computer programming)|methods]].

The language was originally developed by [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]] as ''[[Clascal]]'' for the [[Apple Lisa|Lisa]] Workshop development system. As Lisa gave way to [[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]], Apple collaborated with [[Niklaus Wirth]], the author of Pascal, to develop an officially standardized version of Clascal. This was renamed Object Pascal. Through the mid-1980s, Object Pascal was the main programming language for early versions of the [[MacApp]] [[application framework]]. The language lost its place as the main development language on the Mac in 1991 with the release of the [[C++]]-based MacApp 3.0. Official support ended in 1996.

[[Gen Digital|Symantec]] also developed a [[compiler]] for Object Pascal for their Think Pascal product, which could compile programs much faster than Apple's own [[Macintosh Programmer's Workshop]] (MPW). Symantec then developed the Think Class Library (TCL), based on MacApp concepts, which could be called from both Object Pascal and [[THINK C]]. The Think suite largely displaced MPW as the main development platform on the Mac in the late 1980s.

Symantec ported Object Pascal to the PC, and developed a similar object framework on that platform. In contrast to TCL, which eventually migrated to C++, the PC [[Library (computing)|libraries]] remained mainly based on Pascal.

[[Borland]] added support for object-oriented programming to [[Turbo Pascal]] 5.5, which would eventually become the basis for the Object Pascal dialect used in [[Delphi (software)|Delphi]] created by [[Anders Hejlsberg]]. Delphi remained mainstream for business applications on the PC into the early 2000s, and was partly displaced in the 2000s with the introduction of the [[.NET Framework]] which included Hejlsberg's [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]].